It was solely an abuse of tax law 501(c)(4), a tax-free exemption for qualifying nonprofit organizations that are “primarily” social welfare organizations, not political organizations. Further, they didn’t have to disclose the names of any of their contributors. Finally, they could self-disclose their tax-exempt status without prior approval of the IRS.

What a gift to unscrupulous people such as Karl Rove, Dick Armey and the Koch brothers — tax-free organizations, plus not having to identify their contributors. They gamed the system. Their organizations, Freedom Works and CrossRoads GPS, were shams. Every dime they spent was for political purposes, not social welfare, contrary to IRS rules.

The IRS says it was deluged with requests for approval. There’s no possible way those groups qualified as social welfare organizations. The IRS should have summarily denied them 501(c)(4) status.

They hired fleets of buses to transport the tea party groups around the country. They hired experts to train them in questions to ask and what to say at town hall meetings. And they received campaign money, all tax-free and without having to reveal contributors.

Rove, Armey and the Koch brothers should bear the blame for the sham and taxes should be paid.

Darryl Dickey

Springfield

Look closely at funding inequalities

Disparities in funding/staffing for students with differing abilities is a troubling issue. My heart goes out to special needs children and their families but the whole subject of which children get the most staff, equipment, counseling and funds has long been a topic about which few dare speak aloud.

Certainly autistic kids are much happier and successful in a school environment crafted just for them, notably at a much-larger expenditure for each autistic student than is spent on students in the general population. But it needs to be remembered that students in the general population also have rights to great educational opportunities.

Small classes, low teacher/student ratios — shouldn’t those be afforded every child? To limit funding for general population kids while spending a lot of money to provide for others is a discrimination issue and needs to be openly discussed. Somewhere in the discussion is also the issue of “bang for the buck.”

Teachers know they cannot speak publicly about the inordinate time that an intellectually limited or behaviorally disruptive student takes away from the general population in the classroom, as that is perceived as insensitive and prejudiced.

I will go way out into dangerous territory to say that some of the lack of student achievement in our schools is because the students who need a lot of attention for behavior or intellectual malfunctions take up so much teacher time the general student population is short-changed.

Barbara Dugas

Roseburg

What are those extra days used for?

I would love to read more about what Eugene School District administrators do with the extra 69 days they work beyond the length of a teacher’s contract. I think I see a great place to save money that doesn’t create greater teacher workloads and would reduce the number of students in each classroom.

Judy Provo

Eugene

Old values are sometimes a poor fit

Lee Rothrock asserted that we should hold fast to the values taught us by our parents (letters, May 15). My parents went so far as to send me to a private Christian school and took the family to a Christian church on Sundays where Mom taught Sunday school. I still have the inscribed leather-bound Bible that was my Christmas gift when I was 5 years old.

I was surrounded by married adults and their families — exemplary heterosexuals with Christian values. I knew before I could name it there was a reason I didn’t fit that mold.

The past few decades have changed the way gays and lesbians are viewed, thank God. As with blacks and women getting voting rights, future generations won’t recall how gays were ostracized and oppressed. Perhaps the Boy Scouts would raise its standards by being inclusive of gays.

Hallie Edwards

Marcola

Let’s get more relaxed about pot

Tommy Chong is so right on (“Chong: Legal marijuana could save the country,” May 16). Too much effort, time and jail space are spent on people who do a little weed.

I’m a beer drinker. I don’t drink when I’m going to drive, but otherwise I mellow out with a good Oregon brew. What’s the difference?

If we’d legalize pot and tax it there’d be savings all around. I’d go so far as to say that members of Congress should be required to smoke a bit of weed before they decide to filibuster — they might just get along better and actually accomplish something (Indians had a peace pipe).

Light a joint instead of setting your hair on fire about something stupid and let’s get our country moving again.

Linda Hanchett

Veneta

Clear-cuts: the real forest abuse

The May 6 article headlined “Abusing the forest” highlighted problems caused by homeless people and their makeshift camps in Lane County forests. Garbage and human waste left behind are unsightly and polluting; such misuse shouldn’t be tolerated and will likely lead to camping bans in some areas.

A day before reading the article I saw many acres of clear-cut forest lands while hiking in the Coburg Hills near McGowan Creek.

The messes left behind by careless campers don’t hold a candle to the brutal and legal devastation of thousands of acres of Lane County forests and watersheds.

Modern day clear-cuts equal forest termination and have adverse impacts not only on vegetation but also on soil, water and wildlife. Spraying clear-cuts creates biological graveyards. The sprays are lethal to salmon and sicken animals of the forest and nearby neighbors.

Every time a forest is clear-cut and replanted with genetically modified fir seedlings, the new crop of trees tends to be inferior to earlier generations due in part to increased depletion of vital components in the area’s land and water.

Forestry as practiced in Oregon is mostly a fiber industry. Clear-cutting of monoculture tree plantations equals quick profits for timber companies and leaves the rest of us and the environment impoverished and too often poisoned.

The Oregon Forest Practices Act is about protecting the forest industry, not about protecting our forests. Let’s rewrite the act and go after the chief forest abusers by banning clear-cut monocultures and toxic sprays.

Nena Lovinger

Fall Creek

Wrong side was blamed for scandal

The Register-Guard continues to reinforce its commitment to leftist propaganda.

The headline on a May 16 article said “IRS chief ousted in tea party scandal.” It was not a tea party scandal, it was an Obama administration/IRS scandal.

With typical leftist fraud, the newspaper continues to bash the tea party, even to the point of making up unfounded accusations by implying tea party fraud.

The sub-headline said “The attorney general says the FBI is investigating possible civil rights violations.” The tea party is suspected of civil rights violations?

I hope readers will be careful to check the credibility of both headlines and the body of the article. They’ll find there’s frequently a lot of innuendo.